Docs that make a difference...
Who says that films can't help change the world? Last year at the Sundance Film Festiavl, Kirby Dick's This Film is not yet Rated premiered, a breakthrough investigation into the MPAA film ratings system and its profound effect on American culture. One year later in the same location, Dan Glickman, President and CEO of the MPAA, held a press conference announcing new reforms for filmmakers--crediting Dick's documentary as an influence behind the change.
In the documentary, Dick explored this rating system and asked whether Hollywood movies and independent films are rated equally for comparable content; whether sexual content in gay-themed movies is given harsher ratings penalties than their heterosexual counterparts; whether it makes sense that extreme violence is given an R rating while sexuality is banished to the cutting room floor; whether Hollywood studios receive detailed directions as to how to change an NC-17 film into an R, while independent film producers are left guessing; and finally, whether keeping the raters and the rating process secret leaves the MPAA entirely unaccountable for its decisions.
Of the many new changes that the MPAA has proposed, filmmakers will now be able to cite other movies when waging an appeal for their film and the Classification & Rating Administration (CARA) will post post the ratings rules on the MPAA Web site, describing the standards for each rating. Glickman has also appointed Scott Young, a 19-year MPAA veteran who has been serving as a senior rater, to act as a filmmaker liaison to work directly with directors and producers through the rating process.
Only time will tell if these new reforms will be effective in fairly rating indie films, but I think it's a good sign change itself was brought about by a filmmaker.
Way to go Kirby!
Long live indie film,
Michelle
In the documentary, Dick explored this rating system and asked whether Hollywood movies and independent films are rated equally for comparable content; whether sexual content in gay-themed movies is given harsher ratings penalties than their heterosexual counterparts; whether it makes sense that extreme violence is given an R rating while sexuality is banished to the cutting room floor; whether Hollywood studios receive detailed directions as to how to change an NC-17 film into an R, while independent film producers are left guessing; and finally, whether keeping the raters and the rating process secret leaves the MPAA entirely unaccountable for its decisions.
Of the many new changes that the MPAA has proposed, filmmakers will now be able to cite other movies when waging an appeal for their film and the Classification & Rating Administration (CARA) will post post the ratings rules on the MPAA Web site, describing the standards for each rating. Glickman has also appointed Scott Young, a 19-year MPAA veteran who has been serving as a senior rater, to act as a filmmaker liaison to work directly with directors and producers through the rating process.
Only time will tell if these new reforms will be effective in fairly rating indie films, but I think it's a good sign change itself was brought about by a filmmaker.
Way to go Kirby!
Long live indie film,
Michelle
posted by indieIN | 1:51 PM
2 Comments:
I just managed to catch his flick on DVD, and though he was more than a little heavy-handed, he was certainly right and made a very entertaining flick. The MPAA still has a lot of work to with how it treats sex so differently than violence, but that change is a great one for filmmakers
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